


Safety First

by swimmingwolf59



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Dumb boys in a dumb situation, Humor, M/M, apparently the safety shower is a sexy place idk, chemical burns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-26 11:27:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18716122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swimmingwolf59/pseuds/swimmingwolf59
Summary: Adam spills chemicals on himself and has to use the chem lab safety shower. Though apparently he's not the only one...





	Safety First

**Author's Note:**

> This was purely inspired by a post somebody made on my school’s meme page that said, “What if we kissed in the safety shower of the chem lab” and uh….that’s pretty much what happens lmao

Adam has already been having a bad day.

Midterms are coming up, so he’s been pulling all-nighters three nights in a row, cramming time for studying in between assignments and papers that are all due at the same goddamn time. He had been planning to go to bed for a little bit the night before—because he’s reached that point of such pure exhaustion that it’s physically painful to be awake—before he remembered that he’d forgotten to write his lab report for chemistry. It’s long, and hard, because _fuck_ calorimetry, and so Adam rushes to lab that morning running on around 80 hours with only light dozing because of it.

Honestly, he probably should’ve expected something would happen.

The lab is one of those that’s a never-ending cycle of measuring, heating, adding chemicals, repeat over and over and over. Adam’s so tired that just staring at the scale is difficult; he has to check at least three times that he’s really seeing the right number, which makes the lab take even longer. It doesn’t help that his lab partner is completely useless so he has to do everything himself. He’s tired, hungry, irrationally angry, and all he wants to do is go to sleep.

So of course, when the Bunsen burner refuses to turn on, it’s the last straw.

Adam still stands by his opinion that the striker is the stupidest invention in the entire world. It hardly works, and Adam swears the sound of the scraping metal of the damn thing is starting to invade his dreams. But as if fighting with the striker isn’t already bad enough, the knob on the Bunsen burner he’s using today _refuses_ to turn.

This is the catalyst that sends Adam into a fit of absolute _rage_.

And it’s then, during the height of his rage, that Adam wrenches the knob so hard he accidentally knocks the Bunsen burner over, of course at the exact moment that the striker decides to work.

His work bench starts to smoke.

Adam is so tired that even _this_ takes a while to process.

The table is on fire.

_The table is on fire._

“Shit!” Adam hisses, standing up abruptly as he reaches over to try and right the Bunsen burner. His lab partner is yelling something, but Adam doesn’t hear him because his fumbling hands manage to miss the Bunsen burner entirely and instead knock over the beaker of hydrochloric acid sitting next to it, spilling it directly into Adam’s lap.

There’s a second of calm disbelief.

Then it starts to burn.

“ _Fuck!_ ” he snarls. He wastes precious time just flailing and panicking, his brain too exhausted to remember what the _fuck he’s supposed to be doing right now._

“Dude, go into the safety shower! I’ll put out the fire!” his lab partner shouts. At least now he’s being useful.

Adam’s brain kicks into gear and he sprints for the safety shower in the corner of the room. After drawing the curtain closed behind him, he hurriedly shrugs off his clothes—literally everything he’s wearing except his socks got ruined, how is he supposed to replace them, _fuck_ —and pulls on the lever to get the water started. The water is _hot_ , which makes Adam flinch as it pounds directly onto the yellow stain on his stomach. At least the burning starts to subside, though; he lets out a harsh breath of relief.

Only to nearly jump out of the shower as someone abruptly pulls the curtain open and bursts their way in.

“Hey, what the fuck?” he yells at the same time that the other person says, “What the SHIT?”

“I’m already using the shower; you can’t be in here!” Adam shouts as he uselessly tries to cover himself. It’s pointless, because there’s barely any room in the shower so there’s no way the other person won’t notice—or _feel_ —that he’s buck naked.

This fact is only more horrifying as he realizes that the person barging in is _Ronan fucking Lynch._ Of _course_ the one time he gets trapped in the safety shower with someone it’s the hottest person in Adam’s class that he may or not have been fantasizing about lately.

They’d only been lab partners once, but somehow during that time Adam had managed to develop the world’s stupidest crush. Ronan is loud, rude, and obnoxious, but he’s also smart, witty, and has the sexiest grin Adam has ever seen. He also has an incredible sense of humor – Adam has never enjoyed a chem lab as much as he’d enjoyed the one where he’d been partnered with Ronan, and apparently that was enough reason for him to become fixated on the guy. Well, that, and also he’s incredibly hot. And has a full-back tattoo.

_Fuck_ , that _tattoo_.

“Dude, I’m literally dying from this acid burn, you can’t just _monopolize_ the shower!” Ronan snarls. He’s pulling his pants and underwear off as he says this.

Adam’s brain short circuits and for a moment he just gapes at him. He’s trying not to stare but also _how can he not._ “But… _I’m_ using it! _I’m_ dying from an acid burn!”

“Then we’ll have to fucking share!” Ronan growls, and apparently that’s the end of _that_ conversation.

It kind of is, because Adam’s slowly realizing that his skin is still burning, as he hadn’t been actively cleaning it because of Ronan’s sudden appearance. Neither of them say anything as they fiercely wash off, a sense of urgency making it almost seem normal as they trade off use of the water and even help each other clean off bits that they can’t quite reach.

It’s only after, when the immediate danger is gone, that the utter awkwardness sets in.

Adam has been dreaming of seeing Ronan naked, but not like _this._

“…Huh.” Ronan coughs and clears his throat. “So…”

“So…how did you get burned?” Adam winces at himself – way to go, Adam, way to make this awkward situation stretch out even longer.

Ronan stares at him strangely for a second, but he actually answers the question. “I pissed off K and he threw a beaker of hydrochloric at me.”

Adam’s mouth falls open. “…What the _fuck_? That’s literally not okay – you could’ve been seriously injured.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time.” Ronan shrugs and waves Adam’s protests off. “It’s not worth getting worked up about, he’ll never get caught so there’s no point in stoking the flames. What about you? How’d you end up in here?”

Adam recounts the unfortunate series of events and Ronan lets out a loud guffaw. “That was _you_? Dude, did you know your dumbass lab partner turned on the _gas_ to try and put out the fire? Nearly sent the whole building up in smoke.”

Adam can only sigh wearily. He _knew_ that guy was useless. “Well, at least I won’t be fully blamed for almost setting the lab on fire.”

“Yeah, well, you _would’ve_ been fully blamed if I’d died from that chemical burn just now – you tried to fucking _make me wait for the shower!_ ” Ronan barks out another laugh at this.

“You startled me!” Adam protests. “You shouldn’t have just barged in here without checking if someone was already in it!”

Ronan snorts. “Well geez, sorry I was too busy trying not to get a massive chemical burn to care about your privacy! If it bothers you so much, you can leave; or better yet, I’ll leave.”

Neither of them move.

Adam realizes that he’s staring. He also realizes that Ronan is staring back.

He clears his throat. “Or…we could…stay in here for a little while.”

Ronan swallows; Adam’s eyes track the movement of his Adam’s apple. “…Yeah. The lab’s shit anyway.”

They stare at each other.

Adam isn’t sure who moves first – maybe they move simultaneously. All he knows is that he’s reaching for Ronan and Ronan’s reaching for him and soon their lips meet in a clumsy but passionate kiss. It takes them a while to get the positioning right because they’re both panting too hard and there’s _not enough goddamn room in this shower_ , but when they finally do Adam feels the spark of it go all the way down to his toes. He grabs Ronan’s shoulders, desperate for something to dig his fingers into, and Ronan groans as he lightly bites Adam’s bottom lip.

“Fuck,” Ronan growls into Adam’s mouth. It’s unbelievably sexy; Adam hopes Ronan can’t feel him getting half hard against his thigh.

Which, obviously he _can_ , because again, it’s a small fucking shower.

“I’ve literally wanted to kiss you since I first saw you, fuck,” Ronan pants, tugging at Adam’s hair. Adam groans. “Like, you are _so_ unfairly hot.”

“ _You’re_ the one who’s way too fucking hot for how much of an ass you are,” Adam breathes back. His fingers dance over Ronan’s stomach, dipping into his muscles.

Ronan huffs out a breathless laugh. “Damn, why didn’t we kiss earlier?”

Adam raises an eyebrow at him. “I only kiss people in the safety shower. The ambience really turns me on.”

“Is that so?” Ronan snorts. “Guess I should get K to pour acid on me more often.”

“Ugh, don’t talk about him.” Adam brings his hands up to grab the back of Ronan’s head and tug him closer. “Or better yet, don’t talk at all.”

“Kinda needy, aren’t you?” Ronan teases, but his grin is so wide as he ducks in to kiss Adam again, both of their mouths already open in anticipation.

Ronan has just cupped Adam’s cheeks, tilting his head to deepen the kiss, when someone else shoves their way into the shower.

Adam flinches and bangs his head back on the wall. “ _Gansey_?”

“No time to talk, chemical burn to attend to,” Gansey says, apparently unperturbed that there are two naked men making out in the shower with him as he takes off his clothes, turns on the water, and starts washing a nasty looking burn on his thigh.

Ronan is laughing against Adam’s lips. “Fuck, man, we don’t need to go through this _again_.”

“I would like to know how you plan to get out of this without walking out completely naked in front of the whole class,” Adam says, but he’s laughing too. How did his life turn out like this? “My clothes are totally ruined. All that survived was my socks.”

Ronan whistles. “I for one would _love_ to see you walk out there in just your socks. And dripping wet, too? Real sexy.”

Adam flushes, despite himself. “Maybe next time, Lynch.”

Ronan’s eyes go dark, and Adam badly wants to kiss him again, but Gansey has finished washing his burn and apparently has only just now registered that they’re there, too. He turns to them, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. “Ronan? Adam? What are you two doing here?”

“Washing chemical burns,” Adam says. His arms are still around Ronan’s neck and Ronan’s hands are still on his cheeks, his thumbs rubbing his skin, and they’re so very obviously not washing anything.

Gansey is baffled. “Are you two _making out_?”

“The safety shower has a certain… _ambience_ to it,” Ronan says. Adam laughs silently into his shoulder. “Kind of sexy, don’t you think?”

“I… _no_ ,” Gansey says seriously – he sounds appalled. “What’s sexy about a chemical emergency?”

“Oh, Gans,” Adam sighs, breathless from laughing. “You’ve really been missing out.”

Gansey’s eyebrows just furrow deeper. “…Okay, well, I don’t really get it, but…I’m glad the two of you are happy?”

“We’d be a lot happier if you got out of the shower, Dick,” Ronan says bluntly.

Gansey looks kind of miffed, so Adam raises his hand for a fist bump. “I’ll see you for lunch?”

“…Yes.” He still looks hopelessly puzzled, but he returns Adam’s fist bump, puts his clothes back on, and leaves the shower.

Ronan turns back to Adam and kisses him again, but the mood’s lost so it doesn’t last very long. When they separate, Ronan presses a kiss to his jaw and murmurs, “As much as I’d love to see how much this safety shower turns you on, it’s way too fucking cramped in here. And cold.”

“And we still have to finish the lab,” Adam adds. Assuming that the whole lab hasn’t burned down, but he assumes Gansey would’ve told them about that.  

“Fuck the lab, let’s go back to your place,” Ronan says, grinning.

Adam snorts. “First of all, I’m not failing chemistry just to sleep with you Lynch—” Ronan grumbles about this, “—and second of all, I need to actually _sleep_ first. You’re welcome to be in the bed with me, but I’m not going to be much company.”

“I’d love to be there,” Ronan murmurs and kisses him again. Huh. Who knew Ronan Lynch was actually a total sweetheart?

They get dressed – or at least Ronan does. Adam’s clothes are totally ruined, so Ronan goes out first to find a lost and found to get some clothes from, which Adam gratefully changes into. They don’t quite fit right, but it’s better than walking around naked. The lab is not burned down, though their very concerned TA informs them that Adam’s experiment had been completely ruined and that his lab partner had had to go the hospital after getting a particularly nasty burn.

Honestly, Adam feels like he got the better deal there.

Kavinsky has also apparently fucked off somewhere, so he and Ronan finish the experiment together, laughing and teasing and exchanging discrete touches when they can. Though they have to stay nearly an hour overtime to finish the damn lab—which _sucks_ —Adam leaves hand in hand with Ronan fucking Lynch, so honestly?

Things could be worse.   

**Author's Note:**

> Can you tell I hate chemistry lol
> 
> Come talk to me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/kaoru_of_hakone) or [tumblr](https://swimmingwolf59.tumblr.com/)!


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